Sang Jiang slowly walked into the main hall of Jingren Palace, speaking as she went: "Who do we have here? It's Consort Qi, the concubine's daughter of the Minister. How dare a mere concubine talk back to me? Or is this all the manners Consort Qi has?"

Consort Qi's face turned pale instantly upon seeing this.

She had heard about Sang Jiang's situation. The Emperor first exempted her from kneeling before anyone, and then exempted her from paying respects to the Empress morning and evening. She was certain that Sang Jiang would not come to pay her respects to the Empress, which is why she dared to be so presumptuous.

Unexpectedly, she actually came. She subconsciously shook her head, and just as she was about to speak, she heard a charming female voice coming from outside again.

"Your Highness, you may not know this, but our precious Consort Qi was raised by her own concubine since childhood. It's not that I look down on that concubine's daughter, but it is said that the way that concubine rose to power is the same as our Consort Qi."

As she spoke, Consort Lan slowly walked in from outside.

She has always been straightforward, and she makes it especially clear when she dislikes someone. She had disliked Consort Qi for a long time, but she couldn't find any major fault in her. Now that Sang Jiang had spoken, she immediately followed suit.

Sang Jiang chuckled and nodded: "No wonder, Consort Qi's attire today is quite... unique."

As soon as she finished speaking, the other concubines quickly lowered their heads and dared not utter another word, for fear of being implicated.

Consort Lan smiled and walked up to Sang Jiang, giving a slight curtsy: "Greetings to the Imperial Noble Consort."

As soon as she finished speaking, the other concubines seemed to realize what was happening and rushed to stand up together to greet Sang Jiang: "Greetings to the Imperial Noble Consort."

Sang Jiang raised an eyebrow, glanced around, and nodded slightly: "Get up, everyone."

After saying that, she walked straight to the head of the table. There were two empty seats at the head of the table, one for her and one for the Empress.

She sat down in her seat, glancing at the group of concubines still standing with a slight raise of her phoenix eyes: "Sit down, all of you. I'm not a big tiger, so don't panic."

The concubines nodded and sat down with awkward smiles.

As soon as she sat down, people started flattering her: "I had heard that the Imperial Noble Consort was incredibly beautiful, and seeing her today, I can confirm that her reputation is indeed better than what I've heard."

"Yes, Imperial Noble Consort looks even younger than when we last met. Her skin is truly the envy of this humble servant."

As soon as she finished speaking, one of the concubines above her chuckled and said, "How old are you? The Imperial Noble Consort is in the prime of her life. Can you compare to her?"

Sang Jiang has always loved beauty, and she felt very happy listening to everyone's praise.

Consort Qi listened to their chatter, completely forgetting her presence, and slowly moved a few steps toward her chair.

Sang Jiang's face immediately turned cold: "Did I allow you to sit?"

Consort Qi looked up at her cold little face, her legs went weak and she knelt down: "Your Highness, Imperial Noble Consort, I didn't mean it. I spoke without thinking and offended you. Please forgive me this time. I will never dare to do it again."

Sang Jiang frowned as she looked at her, as if she were seriously considering whether the matter was feasible.

"Well... alright, it's nothing serious, I'll forgive you." She deliberately dragged out her words to create suspense for Consort Qi, and just as Consort Qi's heart was finally at ease and she was about to kowtow and express her gratitude, her voice rang out again.

"However, I was raised by the Sang family after all, and you are spreading such rumors..."